[12/22/04]The list of possible board attorneys has been whittled to three, but the Warren County Board of Supervisors is still badly fractured over whom to hire as counsel.

Supervisors met Tuesday and, after hearing presentations from nine or 10 practicing lawyers, including 13-year board attorney Randy Sherard, seemed to agree their choice would be Sherard, Paul Winfield or Blake Teller and Briggs Hopson, who practice together. All practice in Vicksburg.

District 4 Supervisor Carl Flanders, who became the newest member of the five-member governing panel in January, explained his position at a meeting of the Vicksburg Kiwanis Club later in the day.

“In January of this year, the board made four reappointments of key personnel,” he said. “When I came in that morning, we had had no discussion about reappointing those individuals. We made four reappointments of key personnel … (in) less than 30 minutes.”

Also rehired were the county administrator, road manager and county engineer.

Flanders said then he did not think that was a prudent way to do things.

The vote to rehire Sherard was 3-2 with Flanders, District 1 Supervisor David McDonald and District 5 Supervisor Richard George supporting him. District 3 Supervisor Charles Selmon and District 2 Supervisor Michael Mayfield voted nay.

Ten days ago, after Flanders said the whole board should be in accord on legal counsel, the board agreed to interview other attorneys. Sherard, who was paid $53,000 in 2003 at $100 per hour and has received a raise to $125 per hour this year, said he would like to keep the post. He is also a licensed civil engineer.

McDonald and George have said they intend to support Sherard. Selmon and Mayfield have not made a public commitment. Flanders said only that he will not vote for Sherard.

“By the process of elimination I think it was very clear to them and I am happy to make it clear to the public, I don’t support our current board attorney,” he said Tuesday. “I have given the information to the other supervisors that I am going to consider Blake Teller, Briggs Hopson and Paul Winfield.”

Selmon, board president, said a decision on hiring an attorney should be made before Christmas as a courtesy to Sherard, but added he didn’t know if a vote would be taken today or even on Tuesday, when the board is to wrap up year-end matters.

Duties of the county attorney include attending board meetings to give procedural advice, drafting and reviewing contracts, drafting ordinances and monitoring board compliance with state and federal law.

Also Tuesday, the list of potential replacements for County Administrator Rick Polk, who will retire Jan. 31, was shortened to nine people, eight of them from Vicksburg. Polk has held the job for 21 years. His current salary is $90,000 per year.

The board has received 31 resumes for the administrator post since advertising for the job began in mid-November. Selmon said the board planned to begin interviewing the nine this morning.

George said the two most important jobs in the county are board attorney and county administrator and he felt it was not wise to replace both of them at once.

At the Kiwanis meeting, Flanders said Warren County should be looking for someone skilled in managing people for the post, adding that other board members believe fiscal skills matter more.

“County administrator is probably the most important job in county government,” Flanders said. “The mindset of a lot of supervisors and administrators around the state is that the most important function of county administrator is budget creation and implementation and personnel management is secondary,” Flanders said. “I have come to the conclusion this is flawed.

“If there is a candidate who knows how to hire, reward, build up, praise, reprimand, manage and terminate employees, and that person is available, they should be given top priority,” Flanders said.